FILM: For Instructors: Sample Assignment Ideas

Sample Assignment Ideas

In his course, The American Sound Film, Dr. John C. Tibbets of the University of Kansas asks his students to write a research paper using the following guidelines:

Suggestion for a Class Research Paper

Select an American feature film with sound from 1929 to the present that has been embroiled in a censorship controversy. Document and discuss, in a paper of at least two pages (a maximum of four), the nature of the controversy and relate it to a subject presented in class (e.g., the Hays Office, the Legion of Decency, the O.W.I., the HUAC Hearings and the Blacklist, the decline of the production code in the 1950s and 1960s, the advent in 1968 of the Ratings Administration, and censorship issues today).

This is a research paper, first and foremost. Reserve your opinions for the concluding paragraphs. Otherwise, stick to the factual record and document your findings. Screen the film on your own, tell me where you saw it (on video, on television, at a theater). Cite at least two sources (periodicals, newspapers, books, etc.) in the body of the text. Include at the end a bibliography with complete citations of your sources.

Important: include a photocopy of your references (or at least one page from each reference).
(You will want to keep a copy of your paper at home in case of loss).

Presentation is important. Take time to make the paper look good. It should be typed (double spaced with a good ribbon if using a typewriter) and carefully proofread. I will not read past the first page of a paper if it is sloppily presented, if the ribbon is faint, or if it is evident that you have not proofed it. It will be handed back to you for corrections before I will finish reading it.

Here is a suggested list of film titles from which you may choose. Or you may make your own selection.

Casablanca (the war effort/ sex)
Spartacus (violence/ homosexuality)
Tea and Sympathy (homosexuality)
So Proudly We Hail (wartime propaganda)
Going My Way (religion)
Rear Window (voyeurism)
Keys of the Kingdom (WWII propaganda)
Man with the Golden Arm (drug addiction)
The African Queen ('immoral cohabitation')
Midnight Cowboy (ratings code)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (adultery)
Henry and June (NC-17)
Double Indemnity (adultery)
She Done Him Wrong (pre-code sex)
The Letter (adultery)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (political corruption)
Hail the Conquering Hero (wartime issues)
The Last Temptation of Christ (religion)
Air Force (wartime propaganda)
The Last Weekend (alcoholism)
The Pawnbroker (nudity)